BP 

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Islam 



or 

The Religion 

of the 

Turk 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

I^T— 

Chap, _ Copyright No. 

Shelf. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ISLAM; 



OR, THE 



RELIGION OF THE TDIIK. 



BV 

REV. E. M.' WHERRY, D. D. 







AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

IO EAST 23d ST., NEW YORK. 



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COPYRIGHT, 1896, 
BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



ISLAM; 

OR, THE 

RELIGION OF THE TURK. 



The recent atrocities in Arme- 
nia have served to bring to our 
notice the religion of Islam. The 
spectacle of a mighty potentate 
deliberately planning the destruc- 
tion of myriads of his subjects has 
filled the civilized world with hor- 
ror and indignation. The calm de- 
liberation with which these plans 
have been executed has been no 
less awful to contemplate. Many 
have been ready to doubt the har- 
rowing details of cities pillaged, 
men murdered, women outraged, 
and helpless girls carried captive 
to be enslaved in a Moslem ha- 
rem. And when the Sultan at 
Constantinople calmly denies that 
these outrages have been com- 



ISLAM ; OR, 

mitted, and yet continues them at 
frequent intervals, coolly daring 
the nations of Europe to inter- 
vene, our indignation is thorough- 
ly aroused. We ask ourselves 
how men who profess themselves 
to be the servants of the merci- 
ful God can be the perpetrators 
of such fiendish cruelty: we won- 
der how men can be at once so re- 
ligious and yet so devilish. 

The enigma of the Turkish char- 
acter finds its solution in his relig- 
ion. The sword is consecrated to 
the cause of Islam. It may be un- 
sheathed to repel an enemy or to 
make a convert. All Christians are 
regarded as idolaters, who may be 
destroyed at any time without sin 
whenever the interests of Islam re- 
quire their removal. " Kill the idol- 
aters,*' said the prophet, " where- 
soever ye shall find them, and take 
them prisoners, and besiege them, 
and lay wait for them in every con- 
venient place. But if they shall 
repent, and observe the appointed 
times of prayers, and pay the legal 
4 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

alms, dismiss them freely/' Quran, 
chap. IX., 5. The fact, then, that 
any Christians have been permit- 
ted to live in a country under Mos- 
lem rule is evidence to the Moslem 
that he has exercised a marvellous 
magnanimity. If then the Chris- 
tian subject busy himself with polit- 
ical questions, and endeavor in any 
way to secure for himself a liberty 
denied by his Moslem ruler, he lays 
himself open to the charge of be- 
ing a rebel, and so may be treated 
as an enemy of God and of the 
faithful. Accordingly the Sultan, 
with the advice and authority of 
the Moslem hierarchy, may order 
the slaughter of the men, giving 
them, however, the alternative of 
accepting the religion of Islam. In 
case the Christian select death 
rather than apostasy, his wife and 
children may be enslaved and his 
property seized as the spoil of war. 
We have, therefore, in the Ar- 
menian massacres an object-lesson 
in the Moslem's religion. Two 
hundred millions of the earth's in- 

5 



ISLAM; OR, 

habitants are adherents to this 
faith, which is to-day the only- 
rival of Christianity for supremacy 
in the world. The Sultan of Tur- 
key for more than four hundred 
years has been recognized as the 
Defender of the Faith, the Caliph 
or vicegerent of God on earth. 
Forty millions of his own subjects 
bow the knee to his authority both 
as temporal and spiritual ruler. 
Fifty millions in India, besides 
millions more in Central Asia and 
North Africa, acknowledge his 
authority in matters of religion. 
These figures suggest some of the 
elements of complication which be- 
set every effort to solve the East- 
ern Question. The religion of 
Islam is still a mighty force, which 
must be taken into account in any 
study of the political situation in 
the East. It is true that "the 
sick man " at Constantinople some- 
times seems ready to die, but his- 
tory tells of more than one marvel- 
lous recovery. The jealousy of 
the Christian powers may yet 
6 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

afford him another opportunity 
to rise and secure a new lease of 
life. 

It goes without saying that the 
church cannot afford to be indiffer- 
ent to the religion of the millions 
of Moslems in the midst of whom 
our devoted missionaries are living 
and laboring, in hope that by and 
by the gospel may find entrance 
to their hearts. Is it not the part 
of wisdom as well as the instinct 
of piety to endeavor to understand 
these remarkable people and to ac- 
quaint ourselves with the principles 
of their religion? By so doing 
we may perhaps better understand 
their place in the history of God's 
providential government of the 
world. Possibly we may learn 
something more of the way by 
which these worshippers of Allah, 
"the merciful and the beneficent," 
may become the followers of "the 
Christ, the Son of the living God !" 
It is with the hope of aiding in 
this cause that the writer presents 
the following brief popular state- 

7 



ISLAM ; OR, 

ment of the faith and practice of 
the religion of Islam. 

In the mind of the ordinary 
Christian the religion of Islam is 
a religion of yesterday. Unlike 
Brahminism or Buddhism, it in- 
spires nothing of that veneration 
which is born of the glamor of 
antiquity. To him it is the re- 
ligion of Mohammed the impos- 
tor. He sees little or no connec- 
tion between it and his own faith 
or the faith of his fathers. To him 
the chief characteristics of the 
Moslem's creed are his faith in 
Allah and in Mohammed, the 
prophet of God, and his belief 
in his right to practise polygamy, 
adding to this his fanatical zeal 
in warfare against " infidels." 

Not so with the Moslem himself. 
To him Islam is the only true re- 
ligion : the religion vouchsafed to 
Adam, to Seth and Enoch, to Noah 
and Abraham, to Moses and the 
patriarchs, to David and all the 
prophets, to Jesus and his apostles, 
and finally to Mohammed, the last 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

of the prophets. To him this re- 
ligion comprehends all dispensa- 
tions. It is the religion of the 
genii and of angels. It shall only 
find its consummation in eternity, 
amid the joys of paradise. 

Looking at it from another stand- 
point, Islam may be called the re- 
ligion of Submission to God. A 
Mussulman is one who has submit- 
ted himself to God, or, as Moham- 
medan doctors define it, " one who 
has placed his neck under the yoke 
of God." This religion, then, like 
that of the Jew and the Christian, 
is an exclusive religion. It admits 
none other as true. It knows no 
generous rivalry. There is, there- 
fore, no foundation in fact for the 
theory of certain Christian writers 
that Islam and Christianity are 
destined, under a more liberal in- 
terpretation of their respective 
symbols of faith, to go hand in 
hand and shoulder to shoulder in 
a crusade against idolatry. That 
theory is an idle dream. There 
can be no such reconcilement. One 

9 



ISLAM ; OR, 

must triumph over the fall of the 
other. So far, then, as the mission- 
ary problem is concerned, it means 
war to the end ; war, however, with 
spiritual weapons against carnal: 
the sword of the Spirit against the 
sword of Islam. 

In order to understand the faith 
of Islam let us examine its fun- 
damental principles. 

Moslem authors tell us of four 
Irkan or Pillars of the faith : the 
Quran, the Ahadis or traditions, 
the Ijma, or unanimous consent 
of the learned, and Qiyas, or analo- 
gical reasoning based upon the 
Quran, Ahadis, and Ijma. Let us 
examine these separately. 

I. The Quran. 

This is called by the Moslem 
al Quran al Majid, " the glorious 
Quran;" al Quran ash-sharif, "the 
noble Quran ;" al Furqan, or " the 
Distinguisher ;" and the Kalam- 
Ullah, or " the Word of God." The 
original, they say, is inscribed upon 
the Luh-i-Mahfuz, or " Preserved 
Table," which is kept under the 

IO 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

throne of God.* From this it was 
copied and sent down by the angel 
Gabriel. It follows that Moham- 
med, in the apprehension of his 
followers, was merely the mouth- 
piece of God in all he said. 

The story of Mohammed's call 
to " recite " the Quran is one which 
is listened to with awe by millions 
of his followers. For some weeks 
Mohammed had been living as a 
recluse in a cave near the City of 
Makkah. One day he came to his 
wife Khadijah in great trepidation 
and fear, saying, " Wrap me up, 
wrap me up!" She wrapped him 
up until his fear was dispelled, 
when he told her the cause of his 
fear and trembling. He said that 
the angel Gabriel had come to him 
and said, " Read." He replied, " I 
am not a reader." "Then," said 
Mohammed, " the angel took hold 
of me and squeezed me as much as 

* This notion of the Moslems may have arisen 
from the practice of the Jews of keeping the 
Sacred Book by the side of the ark in the Holy 
of Holies. Deut. 31:26; cf. 2 Kings 22:8. 

II 



ISLAM; OR, 

I could bear, and he let me go and 
said, 'Read/ And I said, 'I am 
not a reader/ Then he took hold 
of me a third time and squeezed 
me as much as I could bear, and 
said, 

" ' Read ! in the name of thy 
Lord who created man. 

" ' Read ! for thy Lord is most 
beneficent ; 

" * He hath taught men the use 
of the pen ; 

" ' He hath taught man that 
which he knoweth not/ " 

Hearing this story the faithful 
Khadijah addressed herself to the 
work of comforting her husband. 
To his fears lest he should die, or 
lest he were the subject of some 
demoniacal possession, she said, 
" No, it will not be so. I swear by 
God he will never make you mel- 
ancholy or sad. For verily you 
are kind to your relatives, you 
speak the truth, you are faithful in 
trust, you bear the afflictions of the 
people, you spend in good works 
what you gain in trade, you are 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

hospitable, and you assist your fel- 
low-men. " She then took him to 
her cousin Waraqah, who was re- 
puted a holy man and acquainted 
with the Jewish Scriptures. Said 
Waraqah, " Oh, son of my brother, 
what do you see ?" Then the proph- 
et told him what he saw, and Wa- 
raqah said, " That is the Namus 
which God sent to Moses ;" there- 
by expressing the idea that he 
was the subject of divine inspira- 
tion. 

Such was the beginning of Mo- 
hammed's prophetic career. From 
this time forth during the space of 
a score of years the prophetic dec- 
larations of this remarkable man 
were recorded and carefully treas- 
ured up as the very words of God. 
They were given piecemeal, ever 
colored by the experiences of the 
prophet and the environments of 
the faithful. They were usually 
announced when some exigency of 
the new faith or of the personal 
interest of the prophet required. 
At Makkah the spirit of this proph- 

*3 



ISLAM; OR, 

ecy anathematized the idols in the 
national pantheon, vindicating the 
unity of the Godhead by reference 
to the testimony of nature and the 
consciences of men. The tribe of 
the Quraish, which was the princi- 
pal tribe of Makkah and the custo- 
dian of the sacred Kaabah, or tem- 
ple, naturally resented this preach- 
ing. They ridiculed the prophet 
as a madman. They persecuted 
his followers, Mohammed himself 
being protected by powerful rela- 
tions. The Quran carefully notes 
these facts, rebukes and threatens 
the persecutors. It tells them of 
the experiences of former proph- 
ets — how the unbelievers mocked 
and persecuted, how a merciful 
God warned them, how he even 
wrought miracles before them, and 
yet how the hardened wretches 
rushed blindly on to destruction. 
Some were swallowed up by an 
earthquake, others were drowned 
in the flood. Once a hot wind sud- 
denly breathed upon a slumbering 
city, leaving its inhabitants corpses. 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

Again, a plague dealt out merited 
destruction upon the enemies of 
the Lord and his prophets. Again, 
when the Jews opposed they were 
warned by the fate of unbelievers 
among them in the olden time. 

At Madina the circumstances of 
the prophet were entirely changed 
and the character of the revela- 
tions of the Quran also changed. 
At first the prophecy was concilia- 
tory. The Jews were flattered. 
The Moslems were commanded to 
pray toward Jerusalem. Much was 
said in praise of the Old Testament 
saints. Thus did Mohammed hope 
to win the children of Israel. But 
the Jews were not inclined to rec- 
ognize this new apostle. They 
ridiculed his prophetic pretensions 
and rejected him as an impostor. 
The spirit of Quranic prophecy 
now anathematized the Jews, and 
declared them to be accursed of 
God because they had persecuted 
and slain his prophet. The tem- 
ple at Jerusalem was rejected as 
the Qibla, and Makkah was chosen 

15 



ISLAM ; OR, 

as the point towards which the 
faithful should pray. Christians 
were now spoken of kindly. They 
were said to be charitable. Jesus 
was declared to be a prophet of 
God. His purity of character and 
wonderful miracles were extolled. 
By this time the new faith had 
gained many adherents — Arabs, 
Jews and Christians. A new ad- 
versary now arose ; it was Abdul- 
lah Ibn Ubbai, the chief of one 
of the most powerful factions in 
Madina, who was jealous of the 
influence of the prophet with his 
ever-increasing band of Moslems. 
Henceforth Abdullah and his party 
received the special attention of 
the inspiring genius of Moham- 
med. The necessities of inspira- 
tion increased, and now- the voice 
of Gabriel was ever heard ringing 
in the ear of the prophet. Some- 
times (as he said) it was like the 
sound of a bell, sometimes like the 
roar of a tornado ; at other times 
the angel in the form of one of 
Mohammed's attendants (Dahiyah) 
16 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

addressed him in audible voice. 
Now a command was given to 
make war upon the Makkah cara- 
vans. Then an order came relat- 
ing to the Moslems— perhaps to 
regulate their social intercourse, 
their treatment of their wives, 
their neighbors, or their prophet. 
At another time prayer and fast- 
ing were instituted. Again, some 
ancient Arab custom was abol- 
ished. For example, the prophet 
fell in love with the beautiful Zai- 
nab, the wife of Zaid, his adopt- 
ed son. Zaid, moved by devotion 
to his benefactor, was willing to 
divorce her ; yea, in the face of 
Mohammed's protest, he did di- 
vorce her, that she might become 
the wife of the prophet. But, how- 
ever willing the prophet and his 
devoted children, the custom of 
the Arab nation was against them. 
It was a scandalous thing for a 
man to marry the divorced wife of 
an adopted son. Here, then, the 
spirit of Mohammed's prophecy 
came to the rescue. A revelation 

2 17 



ISLAM ; OR, 

was vouchsafed to the prophet 
commanding him to marry Zainab. 
This was done, said the prophecy, 
" in order that henceforth the faith- 
ful may not be bound by the old 
custom forbidding men to marry 
the divorced wives of their adopt- 
ed sons."* 

On another occasion a scandal 
arose in respect to waging war dur- 
ing the Sacred Months. From time 
immemorial Arab custom had 
made warfare unlawful during 
these months. The sword was 
sheathed. The bow and the shield 
were hung up within the tent 
doors. Enemies met without fear 
of danger to either life or property. 
Even the murderer of a father or 
a brother was safe in the compan- 
ionship of the avenger of blood. 
It so happened that a small band 
of Moslem marauders found a Mak- 
kan caravan quietly encamped by 
a well at the beginning of the sa- 
cred season. Being off their guard 
they fell an easy prey to the Mos- 

* See Quran, chap xxxiii., $7' 
18 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

lems, who carried off the whole of 
their goods as the spoil of war. 
The Arab unbelievers and hypo- 
crites of Madina made a great out- 
cry at this outrage. The Moslems 
themselves were scandalized. Mo- 
hammed was blamed, inasmuch as 
the expedition has been undertaken 
by his order. The influence of the 
prophet was jeopardized. Seizing 
the marauders he placed them in 
ward. The spoil was placed in 
bond until such time as the will of 
God might be made known. The 
delay was not long. Gabriel ap- 
peared to the prophet, declaring 
that infidelity was worse than war- 
fare in the Sacred Months and that 
henceforth the unbelievers would 
not be spared even during this 
season. Accordingly the prisoners 
were released and rewarded, while 
the booty was distributed among 
the faithful. 

Again, an expedition was to be 
undertaken against the Jews : the 
order was given through the medi- 
um of the Quran. Some rude 

19 



ISLAM; 0R y 

Arabs showed undue familiarity 
in their approach to Mohammed : 
a revelation was vouchsafed regu- 
lating the manner of approach to 
the prophet of God. The charac- 
ter of Ayesha, the favorite wife of 
Mohammed, was aspersed and the 
prophet scandalized : the word of 
the Quran exonerated the favorite 
wife and prescribed punishment 
for the calumniators. Such is the 
character of the revelations of this 
book. So intimate is the relation 
between the matter of the revela- 
tions of the Quran and the life and 
experience of Mohammed that a 
knowledge of the latter is necessary 
to any intelligent understanding of 
the former. 

At the death of Mohammed the 
various portions of the Quran were 
found in a box which had been 
committed to the care of one of his 
wives. They were written upon 
palm leaves and white stones. 
Many of the Moslems too possessed 
copies of portions and some of them 
had committed the whole to mem- 
20 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

ory. The fatalities of war, how- 
ever, led to the rapid thinning out 
of the ranks of the haftzes, as those 
were called who had committed the 
Quran to memory. Under these 
circumstances Zaid-Ibn-Sabit was 
appointed by the Caliph (Khalifah) 
Abu Baqr to compile the Quran. 
This work he did, collecting all the 
portions he could find from the 
palm leaf and stone copies and 
from those who repeated what they 
knew as he recorded it for preser- 
vation. The result was the volume 
which we now possess. True, this 
copy underwent some revision in 
the Caliphate of Othman, but 
only so as to make the idiom 
everywhere to correspond to that 
of the Quraishite tribe of Mak- 
kah. 

This book contains 1 14 suras or 
chapters. Those are not, however, 
recorded in their chronological or- 
der, but, somewhat after the man- 
ner of the prophetical books of the 
Jewish Scriptures, the longer chap- 
ters were placed first and the short- 



ISLAM ; OR, 

er last — the whole being introduced 
by a prayer. 

This prayer reads as follows : 
" In the name of God most mer- 
ciful. Praise be to God, the Lord 
of all creatures, the most merciful, 
the king of the day of judgment. 
Thee do we worship, and of thee 
do we beg assistance. Direct us in 
the right way, in the way of those 
to whom thou hast been gracious ; 
not of those against whom thou art 
incensed, nor of those who go 
astray." 

This passage is perhaps the most 
striking, if not the most beautiful 
passage in the Quran. It reveals 
to us at least two important rea- 
sons why the Quran holds such an 
influence over the minds of two 
hundred millions of the human 
race. The first reason is the beau- 
tiful rhythm, and often sweet ca- 
dences of the original language. 
They sound like the notes of some 
enchanting song, holding multi- 
tudes with rapt attention who un- 
derstand scarcely a word they hear, 

22 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

The second reason is the vast 
amount of truth contained in the 
book ; especially the truth of the 
divine unity and of man's depend- 
ence on God for salvation. 

There are three points in the 
faith of Moslems concerning the 
Quran which we should not fail to 
notice here. 

The first is the doctrine of the 
eternity of the Quran. According 
to this doctrine, the Quran is un- 
created. The paper, ink, etc., of 
which the volume is formed are 
acknowledged to be creatures, 
even the forms of the letters are 
made, but the Word of God con- 
tained in this volume and repre- 
sented by these forms is by all or- 
thodox Moslems regarded as eter- 
nally existent in the mind of God ; 
eternal as to its original essence. 
It is not God, yet it is inseparable 
from God. 

The second point of faith in 
regard to the Quran relates to the 
authority of the Quran. In the light 
of the doctrine just mentioned we 

23 



ISLAM ; OR, 

will be prepared to understand the 
value placed upon every jot and 
tittle of this book. It may only be 
read by "the pure." The text 
must be preserved unchanged. The 
words and letters are all counted. 
Holy men commit it to memory. 
Every question of doctrine is tested 
by its teaching. A single text is 
sufficient to establish any article of 
faith. 

The third doctrine concerning 
the Quran which we would notice 
here is called the doctrine of Abro- 
gation. It sprang up during the 
lifetime of Mohammed. It grew 
out of the necessities of his pro- 
phetic pretensions. Circumstances 
changed from time to time and 
changes in the revelation became 
necessary. Wherefore each new 
revelation was declared to abrogate 
the old whenever it was contrary 
to it. 

This doctrine of abrogation has 

been worked up into a science. 

By modern Moslems it is made to 

apply to the former Scriptures, so 

24 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

that they do not hesitate to say 
that the Jewish Scriptures were 
abrogated by the Christian Scrip- 
tures, and these in turn by the 
Quran. 

With this volume in hand the 
proud Moslem wants no other. It 
contains for him not only the truth, 
but, including the traditions, it 
contains all truth, so far as religion 
is concerned. 

The story is told of the Caliph 
Omar that, when asked what should 
be done with the celebrated Alex- 
andrian Library, he replied : " If 
the books therein agree with the 
Quran they are not needed : if they 
are contrary to it they should be 
destroyed." This story illustrates 
the ordinary estimate of the Mos- 
lem for the Christian Scriptures. 
Wherein they differ from the Qu- 
ran it is said to be due to corrup- 
tion by interpolation or forgery, so 
that they are only to be recognized 
in so far as they agree with the 
Quran. The consequence is that 
while the Quran attests the genu- 

^5 



ISLAM ; OR, 

ineness and credibility of the Bi- 
ble yet Moslems hold that present 
copies are not trustworthy, and 
hence, because they contradict the 
Quran, they are to be rejected. 

II. The next pillar of Islam is 
closely related to the Quran and 
yet differs materially from it. This 
pillar is called Ahadis, or Tradi- 
tions. These are also called the 
Sunnat. They consist of the say- 
ings, doings, and permissions of 
Mohammed in regard to various 
matters. They were collected two 
or three centuries after the death 
of the prophet. They represent 
(i) things said by Mohammed ; (2) 
things done by Mohammed in the 
presence of his disciples, and (3) 
things done by disciples in the 
prophet's presence against which 
he did not show any disapproba- 
tion ; (4) things done in the pres- 
ence of Mohammed which he con- 
demned. The mass of matter has 
been compiled in six ponderous 
tomes known as the " as-Sihah-us- 
Sittah (the Six Correct Books). 
26 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

The principles which were ap- 
plied, to decide between the gen- 
uine and spurious traditions, were 
peculiar. Collectors carefully ex- 
amined the chain, not of evidence 
for and against the traditions, but 
of the persons relating them. If 
each link in the chain of witness- 
es were a pious Moslem of sound 
mind, discreet, sober and clear- 
headed, his testimony was accept- 
ed. If all the witnesses were thus 
reliable the tradition was accepted. 
Whenever there was a doubt as 
to one or more of the witnesses 
the tradition, though accepted, was 
marked as " weak " or " doubtful." 
It will be evident to all that under 
such circumstances the science of 
interpreting the traditions is no 
small part of a Moslem's education 
for the priesthood. 

The following extract, from a 
famous collection of Moslem tradi- 
tions entitled "The Tirmizi," will 
give the reader an idea of the form 
and character of these traditions : 

" Abu Kuraib said to us that 



ISLAM ; OR, 

Ibrahim ibn Yusuf ibn Abi Ishaq 
said to us, from his father, from 
Abu Ishaq, from Tulata ibn Musa- 
rif that he said, I have heard, from 
'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn Ausajah, that 
he said I have heard that the 
prophet said, Whosoever shall give 
in charity a milch cow, or silver, or a 
leathern bottle of water, it shall be 
equal to the freeing of a slave." 
It will be noted that a complete 
chain of witnesses is here present- 
ed between the prophet and the 
final narrator of the tradition. 

As the Quran is the chief source 
of authority in doctrine, so the 
traditions are the principal source 
of knowledge in respect to all ques- 
tions of practice. Not only is this 
true of the ceremonies and cus- 
toms relating to the daily and 
other stated prayers, to the fast 
of the Ramzan or the observ- 
ances of the Muharram, to alms- 
giving and pilgrimage, but to the 
customs relating to marriage and 
death, to the usages of social and 
family intercourse and even to all 
28 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

matters of dress and adornments, 
down to the cut of the beard, the 
dye for the hair, and the particu- 
lar wood to be used in making a 
toothbrush ! All questions as to 
purification and washing are set- 
tled by reference to the traditions. 
Suppose, for instance, a dog should 
be drowned in a well, the question 
would immediately arise as to how 
that well could be rendered cer- 
emonially clean. Learned men 
would be consulted, who would in 
turn consult the books and pro- 
ceed to enlighten the minds of 
their co-religionists how many 
gallons of water must be drawn 
from the w r ell before it can be re- 
garded as having been purified. 
Never did Jewish scribes display 
more learning in adducing the 
sayings of the rabbis and doctors 
to prove some question as to wash- 
ing of hands and cleaning of pots 
than do the Mullahs and learned 
men of Islam when discussing 
similar questions to-day. 
III. The third pillar of Moslem 

29 



ISLAM ; OR, 

faith is called I/ma. This term 
expresses to the Moslem about the 
idea conveyed to a Christian by 
the expression " consensus of the 
fathers.' ■ It is a collection of the 
opinions of the Mujtahiddin or 
learned among the companions of 
the prophet, the Ansars, or help- 
ers, who were converted at Madi- 
na during Mohammed's ministry 
there, and the disciples and com- 
panions of both of these classes. 
Naturally it was thought that such 
men were in a position best to un- 
derstand what was meant by the 
words of the Quran, and especially 
by the sayings of their prophet 
preserved in the traditions. These 
opinions of the learned, however, 
must on no account contradict the 
teaching of the Quran or the tradi- 
tions, but when they agree with 
these they are regarded as author- 
ity in all questions of interpreta- 
tion and law. 

IV. The fourth pillar of Moslem 
faith is called Qiyas. By this term 
is meant the analogical reasoning 
30 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

of the learned as to the teaching of 
the Quran, traditions and the Ijma. 
Here we find for the first time a 
place for the exercise of the rea- 
son. And yet even here how lit- 
tle is that exercise. The learned 
Imaums and Mujtahiddin of the 
first three centuries of Islam made 
certain deliverances, based upon 
the teachings of the Quran and 
traditions, which have been re- 
corded for the guidance of the 
faithful. Since that time the 
"learned" among the orthodox 
have no successors, so that for 
centuries Moslem scholars have not 
striven to learn what the Quran 
and the Ahadis really teach, but to 
discover what the " learned " say 
they teach. Reason has virtually 
been ruled out of court. Dogma- 
tism in the worst sense of that 
term has obtained almost absolute 
supremacy over Moslem minds. 
A hierarchy of the Uluma or learn- 
ed doctors holds sway with a power 
rarely ever held by Pope or college 
of cardinals in the Romish Church. 

31 



ISLAM; OR, 

Clothed with all the authority of 
the temporal power this hierarchy 
is able to mete out the severest 
penalties upon any and all who 
should dare to call in question 
their conclusions in regard to any 
matter of doctrine or practice. 
When the bastinado and the filthy 
dungeon fail to correct the contu- 
macious, the bowstring and the 
axe avail. This survey of the fun- 
damental doctrines of Islam will 
make clear to the reader its ex- 
treme rigidity. Everything is, as 
it were, fossilized. There is no 
room for development. The Mos- 
lem priest ever points to the past. 
Freedom of thought is denied him. 
No commentator may tell what he 
thinks the sacred writings teach, 
but, like the Pharisees of old, he 
declares in solemn tones what some 
old doctor taught one thousand 
years ago. 

There are some ardent admirers 
of Turkish and Indian Moslems 
who entertain the hope that con- 
tact with the West and acquaint- 
32 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

ance with its civilization will lead 
to a reformation of their religion. 
They seem to be looking for a 
kind of Moslem millennium, when 
the dignity of womanhood will be 
acknowledged, when polygamy will 
be abolished, when the slaves will 
be set free and the accursed traffic 
in human flesh be ended, when 
reason and conscience shall be un- 
trammeled and when Moslem and 
Christian shall kneel in loving em- 
brace at the Mercy Seat. Such 
dreamers understand little of the 
religion of the Moslem. The truth 
is, the evils so notorious in Moslem 
countries, and which have just 
been mentioned, are sanctioned by 
Islam. Slavery and polygamy, 
with their contempt for the wail 
of the slave and the degradation 
of woman, will continue so long 
as the Quran has authority over 
the minds of men. No less shall 
the enslavement of reason and 
conscience continue, in countries 
governed by Moslem sovereigns, 
so long as the authority of the 
3 33 



ISLAM ; OR, 

Ultima receives the sanction of 
Moslem tradition and the universal 
consent of the Mohammedan fa- 
thers. " Africa's sore " will only 
be healed when the power of Mos- 
lem slave hunters shall be broken 
and when the Turk and Arab shall 
no longer be permitted to fill their 
harems with the product of the 
slave trade. We may not gather 
" grapes of thorns nor figs of 
thistles/' 

We are now prepared to enter 
upon a brief survey of that system 
of religious faith and practice 
which is based upon this foun- 
dation. According to Moslem au- 
thorities the faith of Islam includes 
seven points, enumerated in the 
following creed : 

" I believe in God, in the An- 
gels, in the Books, in the Apos- 
tles, in the Last Day, in the De- 
crees of Almighty God both as 
respects good and evil, and in the 
Resurrection after death." 

Faith in God includes not only 
belief in his existence as a person- 
34 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK, 

al God, but especially in his abso- 
lute Unity. It excludes not only 
plurality of deities, but plurality 
of persons in the One God. It re- 
pudiates every idea of incarnation. 
It is therefore totally opposed to 
the Christian doctrine of Trinity 
in Unity and of the Incarnation of 
God in Christ. 

The seven attributes of God are 
" Life, Wisdom, Power, Will, Hear- 
ing, Seeing, and Speaking." To 
the Moslem, God is not first of all 
a God of Wisdom, or Love, but a 
God of Infinite Power. " He is," 
to quote another,* " the Lord of the 
worlds, the Author of the heavens 
and the earth, who hath created 
life and death, in whose hands is 
dominion, who maketh the dawn 
to appear and causeth the night to 
cover the day, the Great all- Power- 
ful Lord of the Glorious Throne ; 
the thunder proclaim eth his per- 
fection, the whole earth is his 
handful, and the heavens shall be 

* Mr. Stanley Lane Pool, in Selections from 
Quran. 

35 



ISLAM ; OR, 

folded together in his right hand. 
And with the power he conceives 
the knowledge that directs it to 
right ends. God is the wise, the 
just, the true, the swift in reckon- 
ing, who knoweth every ant 's 
weight of good and of ill that 
each man hath done, and who suf- 
fer eth not the reward of the faith- 
ful to perish." 

So overwhelming indeed is the 
sense of the power of the Almighty 
that there seems to be no room left 
for the will of the creature, and so 
it comes to pass that in the minds 
of the majority of Moslems " God 
plays with humanity as on a chess- 
board, and works out his game 
without regard to the sacrifice of 
the pieces." 

Still, on the other hand, there is 
a recognition of the mercy of God, 
though indeed it must be conced- 
ed that this is not the chief thought 
of Islam. The Moslem is guided 
by fear, rather than drawn by love. 
The God of Islam is undoubtedly 
the true God, and yet there are 
36 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

serious objections to the Moslem's 
conception of him. Not only do 
we object to his rejection of the 
Trinity, but also to his having ex- 
alted God's Omnipotence over all 
other attributes, to the lowering of 
his character for holiness — noth- 
ing being said of God's holiness in 
the Quran which might not be said 
of a holy man ; to his limiting the 
goodness of God to Moslems, no 
matter what their character, rel- 
egating even the infants of unbe- 
lievers to hell fire ; to his sacrifice 
of God's justice by denying the 
necessity for any atonement for 
sin ; and, finally, to his limitation 
of the truth of God by the sanctifi- 
cation of a lie, if it only be spoken 
in self-defense or for the advance- 
ment of Islam. It must not be 
forgotten that the God of Islam is 
not merely the Allah described in 
the Quran, but the God who speaks 
in every word, syllable, and letter 
of the Quran. We must not there- 
fore separate what we conceive 
to have special reference to God 

37 



ISLAM ; OR, 

in its teaching from what we may 
conceive to have been used by 
Mohammed for the furtherance of 
his private or political purposes ; 
for, according to Islam, Moham- 
med was but the mouthpiece of 
Divinity. If, then, we would get a 
correct idea of the Allah of Islam 
we must take into account all that 
was done by Mohammed under the 
sanction of the Quran. Let this be 
done, and it will appear that what 
we have just said is by no means 
extravagant, or unduly severe. 

On the subject of the Books rec- 
ognized by Moslems, we note as 
of special interest their faith in 
104 volumes of inspiration, re- 
vealed from time to time through 
the medium of the prophets, clos- 
ing with the Quran. Of these it is 
said 100 are no longer in existence : 
these are the books of Adam, 
Seth, Enoch and Abraham. The 
four still extant are the Penta- 
teuch of Moses, the Psalms of 
David, the Gospel of Jesus, and 
the Quran of Mohammed. These 
38 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

are all recognized by the Quran as 
the word of God given for a light 
to guide men in the way of salva- 
tion. Nevertheless, as already 
stated, modern Moslems regard 
all these, excepting the Quran, as 
having been corrupted. When 
therefore a Moslem says he be- 
lieves in the books contained in the 
Jewish and Christian Scriptures, 
he means only to declare that such 
books were once delivered to the 
prophets, though now so corrupted 
as no longer to be worthy of cre- 
dence excepting in so far as they 
are confirmed by the Quran. 

In regard to the prophets, Mos- 
lems believe in 144,000. There 
are however no more than 28 w T hose 
names are given in the Quran. 
They also declare their belief in 
315 apostles or prophets sent with 
some special message. Nine were 
exalted to the position of leaders 
in the ushering in of new dispen- 
sations ; six of these were styled 
the Nabi-ul- Azim. These are 
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, 

39 



ISLAM ; OR, 

Jesus and Mohammed. Each of 
these is distinguished by a special 
title ; thus, Adam is the Chosen of 
God, Noah the Prophet of God, 
Abraham the Friend of God, Mo- 
ses the Speaker with God, Jesus 
the Spirit of God, and Mohammed 
the Apostle of God. A striking 
fact in this connection is that, while 
according to popular belief all 
prophets were sinless, yet, in ac- 
cordance with the teaching of the 
Quran and the Traditions, Jesus 
is the only sinless prophet of Islam. 
Of other prophets it is said in the 
Quran either that they confessed 
and repented of their sins or that 
God laid certain sins to their 
charge. The same thing is true 
of the teaching of the Traditions — . 
especially true in the case of Mo- 
hammed, who is commanded to 
repent of his sins and who is said 
to have professed his penitence 
seventy times in a single day. But 
of Jesus, nowhere is there a line 
or a hint of any kind that He was 
ever chargeable with sin. He Is 
40 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

the only sinless prophet of 
Islam. 

There is however no doctrine 
that impresses itself more power- 
fully upon the mind of Moslems 
than that of the Resurrection and 
the Judgment Day. To them this 
is the great day of assizes. The day 
will however be at least 1,000 years 
in duration. Its approach will be 
marked by many signs : the faith 
will decay among men, wickedness 
and corruption will be rampant, the 
meanest persons shall be advanced 
to eminent dignity, there shall be 
tumults and seditions, wars and 
distress in the world ; the sun shall 
rise in the west, a "beast" shall 
arise out of the earth, and appear 
in the holy temple of Makkah, 
having the head of a bull, the eye 
of a hog, the ears of an elephant, the 
horns of a stag, the neck of an 
ostrich, the breast of a lion, the 
color of a tiger, the back of a cat, the 
tail of a ram, the legs of a camel, 
and the voice of an ass. About this 
time the Antichrist shall appear. 

41 



ISLAM ; OR, 

One-eyed, with the word Kafir or 
" Infidel " written on his forehead, 
he will appear in Syria riding on 
a white ass, followed by 70,000 
Jews, and shall continue on the 
earth for fourteen months, conquer- 
ing and devastating until he be de- 
stroyed by Jesus, who shall de- 
scend from heaven and establish 
the religion of Islam throughout 
the whole world. Then the Mahdi 
shall appear. 

These with many other marvel- 
lous signs shall portend the near 
approach of the Awful Day when 
the first blast of the angel trump 
shall strike terror to every heart in 
heaven and earth. A second blast 
will visit with death every creature 
in the universe. The third trum- 
pet blast of the angel, now himself 
raised from the dead, will restore 
all to life, when the judgment will 
begin. Then shall every beast that 
has suffered at the hands of a cruel 
master tread upon the prostrate 
form of his persecutor. Then shall 
the wicked be brought forth with 
42 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK, 

blackened faces, backbiters in the 
form of apes, tyrants in the form 
of swine, hypocrites gnawing their 
tongues, the proud and vainglori- 
ous clad in garments daubed with 
pitch. These shall all be obliged 
to pass over a bridge so narrow 
that they shall slip off it into the 
gaping vortex of hell underneath. 
The righteous, by which w r e are to 
understand the faithful of every 
age and dispensation, shall be 
brought forth in honor, clad in 
bright and beautiful garments, 
seated on white - winged camels 
with saddles of gold. To them 
shall be opened the gates of Para- 
dise, into which they will be ush- 
ered, where, seated on sofas gar- 
nished with silk and precious stones, 
they shall sport themselves in the 
companionship of the black-eyed 
girls of Paradise, eating the lus- 
cious fruits of Eden, drinking the 
spicy waters of A I Kauthar out of 
vessels of gold. 

It was this vision which enabled 
the fiery Saracen to rush to certain 

43 



ISLAM ; OR, 

death in the exultant hope of mar- 
tyrdom. It is this hope which 
ever recruits the ranks of the Gha- 
zies of Afghanistan or the fanatical 
Darwesh of the Soudan. To them 
warfare against infidels is a merit, 
while death in such a cause is a 
sure passport to Paradise. 

We now must notice briefly the 
practice of the Moslem religion. 
It is summed up under five heads : 
the reading of the Kalima, observ- 
ance of stated prayers, fasting, 
giving of legal alms, and pilgrim- 
age to Makkah. 

By reading the Kalima is meant 
repeating the formula La ilah illil- 
lah wa Mohammed ur rusul ullah; L e., 
" There is no god but Allah, and 
Mohammed is the apostle of Allah/' 
This formula must be repeated at 
least once before death, with a sin- 
cere heart and a loud voice, in the 
presence of witnesses. 

The duty of prayer requires the 
punctilious observance of five daily 
stated prayers. Early in the morn- 
ing, at the very first streak of dawn, 
44 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

the Muazzin's call will announce 
the time for the first prayer. The 
next prayer must be offered at 
midday, the third at about three 
o'clock in the afternoon, the fourth 
at sunset, and the fifth when night 
has closed in. These prayers should 
be said in the Arabic language, and 
if possible the men should assemble 
in the Mosque for that purpose. 
They may be, however, and gen- 
erally are, offered wherever the 
Moslem may be at the prayer hour. 
It is an impressive scene to witness 
Moslems as they drop their imple- 
ments of daily labor and either in 
companies or alone spread a sheet 
upon the ground and proceed to 
say their prayers. It may be on 
the roadside or at a railroad station, 
no matter where, no matter by 
whom surrounded, the Moslem says 
his prayers. His witness for his 
faith is clear and unequivocal. He 
glories in his faith. On Friday 
Moslems assemble punctiliously at 
the Mosque, where special prayers 
suited to this holy day are offered. 

45 



ISLAM ; OR, 

Sometimes the service is accom- 
panied by a discourse or sermon. 
Prayers over, the faithful return to 
their usual occupations. 

The duty of fasting relates par- 
ticularly to the fast of Ramadhan. 
This is a sacred month. During 
the entire month the Moslem is 
obliged to fast from sunrise until 
sunset. No morsel of food or drop 
of water may pass his lips during 
the day. This in hot climates in 
the long days of summer is a serious 
trial. Many lose their health and 
some their lives through the rigor 
of this fast. The sick and the 
weakly are exempted on condition 
they fast an equal number of days 
at another time. During the night 
the Moslem is free to eat and drink 
as much as he pleases. The world- 
ly minded, if sick, escape the rigor 
of this fast by turning as much of 
the day into the night as possible. 

Almsgiving (Zakat) is a kind of 

legal tax, corresponding in some 

measure to the tithe of Judaism. 

It is assessed variously according 

46 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

to the employment of the giver. 
It amounts to two and one half per 
cent, of his gains or income, and is 
spent in the cause of religion and 
the support of the poor. It must 
not be inferred that this is the sum 
total of Moslem charity. To their 
credit it must be said they are gen- 
erous and kind to the poor and 
hospitable to travelers and stran- 
gers. During the late war between 
the Turks and the Russians the 
Mohammedans of India contribu- 
ted large sums for the relief of the 
sick and wounded among their 
co-religionists. In one city the wo- 
men even took off their ornaments 
of gold and silver and put them 
into the contribution plate. 

The pilgrimage to Makkah, like 
the duty of prayer and fasting and 
almsgiving, is enjoined by the 
teaching of the Quran and sanction- 
ed by the example of the prophet. 
Every Moslem with health and 
wealth sufficient to enable him to 
perform the pilgrimage to Mak- 
kah must do so at least once in his 

47 



ISLAM; OR, 

lifetime. The rites connected with 
the Hajj or Pilgrimage are a relic 
of Arab heathenism, but are purged 
of all idolatrous sentiments. The 
rite which most nearly approaches 
to the idolatrous is that of kissing 
the Black Stone in the corner of 
the Kaabah, or sacred temple at 
Makkah. It is recorded in one of 
the traditions that the Caliph Omar, 
when first he performed the pil- 
grimage after his conversion to Is- 
lam, addressed this stone thus: 
" Verily I know that thou art a 
stone ; thou dost no good or harm 
in the world, and if it was not that 
I saw the prophet kiss thee I would 
not kiss thee." 

In addition to these practical 
duties of Islam we may add that 
of Jahad, or Crusade. This duty 
was recognized in the days of Mo- 
hammed. Indeed it was to the 
performance of it that the mission 
of the prophet owes its success. 
According to the teaching of Is- 
lam, everv Moslem must hold him- 
self ready to fight in the Way of 
48 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

God. This either means to fight 
in defence of the faith, or, under 
competent guidance, to make war 
upon the infidels with a view to 
their conversion or extirpation. It 
is under shelter of this doctrine 
that Mohammedans have always 
felt themselves at liberty to assault 
any nation or tribe of unbelievers. 
It is under shelter of this principle 
that Arab slave-hunters practise 
their bloody work in Central Afri- 
ca and Turks ruthlessly slaughter 
Christians in Armenia. 

The recent atrocities perpetrated 
by Turks and Kurds in Armenia 
present to us a striking illustration 
of the terrible cruelty and fiend- 
ish outrage and slaughter which 
always ensue upon a jahad or cru- 
sade in the name of religion. That 
the massacres in Armenia were 
prompted by religious zeal and 
emanated from the Sultan at Con- 
stantinople and his advisers seems 
certain. The following extract 
from the statement of a Moham- 
medan official who made a careful 
4 49 



ISLAM ; OR, 

inquiry as to the causes and extent 
of the massacres at Harpoot, Arab- 
kir, and other places, fully con- 
firms this view : 

" A petition in behalf of Arme- 
nians was given to the powers in 
the hope of improving- their con- 
dition. An imperial firman was 
issued for carrying out the reforms 
suggested by the powers. On this 
account the Turkish population 
was much excited by the thought 
that an Armenian principality was 
to be established, and they began 
to show great hostilities to the 
poor Armenians, who had been 
obedient to them and with whom 
they had lived in peace for more 
than six hundred years. In addi- 
tion to their anger was added the 
permission and help of the govern- 
ment, by which, before the reforms 
were undertaken, the whole Turk- 
ish population was aroused to the 
evil intent of obliterating the Ar- 
menian name ; and then behold 
the Turks of the district, joining 
with neighboring Kurdish tribes 
50 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

by the thousand, armed with weap- 
ons which are allowed only to the 
army, and with the help and under 
the guidance of Turkish officials, 
in an open manner and in the 
daytime, attacking the Armenian 
houses, shops, stores, monasteries, 
churches and schools, and commit- 
ting fearful atrocities. 

" After plundering these places 
they burned many houses, church- 
es, monasteries, schools and mar- 
kets with the petroleum they had 
brought with them, and the large 
stone churches which they could 
not burn they ruined in other ways. 
Some churches were converted into 
mosques and devoted to Moslem 
worship, and books sacred to Chris- 
tians were torn in pieces. Besides 
this, priests, laymen, women and 
even small children were made 
Moslems by force. They put white 
turbans on the men and cut the 
hair of the women in bangs like 
that of the Moslem women, and 
made them go through Moslem 
prayers. Married women and girls 

5i 



ISLAM ; OR, 

were defiled, against the sacred law, 
and some were married by force 
and are still detained in Turkish 
houses. Especially in Talu, Seve- 
rek, Malatia, Arabkir and Choon- 
koosh many women and girls were 
taken to the soldiers' barracks and 
dishonored. Many, to escape such 
dishonor, threw themselves into 
the Euphrates, and some commit- 
ted suicide in other ways." 

The influence of centuries of cul- 
ture in this kind of "holy war" is 
seen in the cold-blooded indiffer- 
ence of Moslem people everywhere. 
The writer says, " The strange 
thing about it all is that very 
few Moslems seemed to revolt at 
such deeds. Men of intelligence 
and education view these deeds 
with complacency." Many months 
have passed since the Christian 
world was horrified by the first of 
these massacres. Every Christian 
nation has voiced its protest against 
them. We have yet to hear a sin- 
gle word of disapproval from any 
Moslem people on earth. 
52 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

This has ever been the favorite 
missionary agency of Islam. When 
certain apologists for Islam insti- 
tute a comparison between the rel- 
ative success of Moslem and Chris- 
tian missions they ought in all 
fairness to compare and then care- 
fully catalogue the means used by 
these missionaries and the moral 
results of their work. 

Such, then, is the religion of 
Islam, at least in its fundamental 
principles. Like every other relig- 
ion it has been influenced by the 
national life and customs of its 
votaries. Like Christianity it has 
been divided by schisms and her- 
esies. There have been no less 
than 1 50 sects of Moslems. Some 
of these divisions have been polit- 
ical in their character, others doc- 
trinal or philosophical. The great 
schism of the Sunni and Shiah 
sects dates from the earliest years 
of Islam and was due to a dispute 
as to who should be the Caliph or 
successor of Mohammed. The 
Shiahs claimed that Ali, the hus- 

53 



ISLAM; OR, 

band of Fatima, Mohammed's 
daughter, should have been the 
first Caliph. They therefore re- 
ject Abu Baqr, Omar and Othman, 
the first three caliphs, as usurpers. 
This political division has led to 
many bloody wars. The division 
between Persia and Turkey is yet 
as a wide and impassable stream. 

A modern sect of considerable 
influence in Arabia and India is 
that of the Wahabbis, who have en- 
deavored to reform many abuses 
and to bring back Islam to its orig- 
inal purity. The political power 
of this sect was broken by the late 
Mohammed Ali of Egypt. 

On theological grounds Islam has 
had many sects. The Ali-Illahis 
believe that God was incarnate in 
the various Imaums or Leaders in 
all dispensations down to the time 
of Ali, who was the last. It is 
interesting to notice how the 
thought of incarnation of the 
godhead forced itself in upon the 
bold unitarianism of Islam. An- 
other sect, the Mushabiites, taught 
54 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

that God possessed a human form. 
Still another held that though the 
body of God was human in outline 
yet it was a luminary body. 

The discussion as to the attri- 
butes of divinity, which led to 
the aforementioned heresies, re- 
sulted in the rise of the Mutazal- 
ites, who may be called the liberal 
or rationalistic sect of Islam. This 
sect has been revived in India 
under the leadership of Sayed 
Amir Ali of Calcutta. 

The sect of the Sufis or mystics 
adopt a pantheistic philosophy and 
endeavor to explain the Quran in 
accord with it. The result is an 
orthodox highly spiritual worship, 
on the one hand, and a blind fatal- 
ism, amounting to atheism, on the 
other. The influence of these vari- 
ous heterodox schools of thought 
upon the Moslem mind is of no small 
moment to the cause of Christian 
evangelization. These elements 
of Moslem nationality afford the 
most hopeful subjects of mission- 
ary endeavor. When, therefore, 

55 



ISLAM ; OR, 

it becomes subject to a Christian 
power, as in India and Egypt, it 
loses, so to speak, its right arm.* 
On its theological side Islam is 
supported by an extensive litera- 
ture and a regular system of theo- 
logical instruction. In addition to 
this, thousands of men of no mean 
intellectual calibre spend their 
whole lives in its study and propa- 
gation. Vast institutions of learn- 
ing have been established, and are 
still supported by the generosity 
of princes and kings, which edu- 
cate Moslem youths without allow- 
ing them to come under any other 

* The notion of patriotism is entirely subor- 
dinate to that of religion. The lawful rulers 
of earthly kingdoms are Moslems, who ac- 
knowledge the hierarchy at Constantinople. 
The Sultan is king of kings, who may kill four- 
teen of his subjects every day, if he will, and 
that without question. The Moslem owes alle- 
giance to no other than a Moslem government. 
He cannot therefore be at once a faithful sub- 
ject of Christian dominion and a consistent 
follower of orthodox Islam. He is always 
bound to obey the call of the Caliph to holy 
war. These facts cannot be too well consider- 
ed by all our statesmen in their study of the 
Moslem problem. 

56 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

religious influences. Such a relig- 
ion, holding sway over one-eighth 
of the population of the globe, sec- 
ond only to Christianity in numer- 
ical strength among the religions 
of the world, occupying the chief 
centres of influence in the Eastern 
world, commands our respect, in 
spite of its appalling errors, wjhile 
it forces upon us the conviction 
that it is, as we have already said, 
the principal rival of our holy re- 
ligion. 

Does it not then seem a little 
strange that, w r hat with our mis- 
sions to Mormons and Jews, our 
churches in America have hardly 
thought of a special mission to 
Moslems ? True it is that men are 
sent to India, Egypt, and Turkey 
and Persia, who in the providence 
of God are led to devote them- 
selves specially to the Moslems; and 
yet the churches and even boards 
of missions seem to think of Mos- 
lems very much as they do of the 
heathen elsewhere. But this is 
not enough. It is only reasonable 

57 



ISLAM ; OR, 

to require of missionaries sent to 
Moslem lands such preparation for 
their work as shall enable them to 
at least understand the thoughts 
and feelings of these followers of 
the false prophet, and so be able to 
direct them intelligently to the 
truth of that gospel which is at- 
tested by the Quran, and to the 
claims of that Saviour who is the 
Sinless Prophet of Islam, and 
whom they confess to be now ex- 
alted in heaven, and who is to 
come again to establish the true 
religion of God upon the earth. 

We do not wish to be understood 
as disparaging what has been done 
for the work of missions among 
Moslems. We only desire to ad- 
vocate an improvement of method. 
We would plead for a more thor- 
ough and systematic training of 
men for work among Mohamme- 
dans everywhere. 

The question is sometimes asked, 
What is the influence of Moham- 
medanism upon the moral charac- 
ter of Moslems? In reply to this 
58 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

question, it must be admitted that 
wherever it brings to its allegiance 
a grossly idolatrous people, espe- 
cially if they be fetish or devil wor- 
shippers, it does raise their moral 
status. Cannibalism and infanti- 
cide are abolished ; idolatrous cus- 
toms, degrading and immoral, are 
obliterated ; certain fixed rules are 
enforced in respect to society and 
the State ; thieves and murderers 
are severely punished ; the use of 
intoxicating drinks is greatly di- 
minished if not absolutely prevent- 
ed ; children are educated to some 
extent and trained up as the wor- 
shippers of the true God ; certain 
ideas of honor, courage and devo- 
tion are inculcated, and so the scale 
of morality is greatly advanced; 
and yet there is a limit to Moslem 
progress in morals a long way this 
side the goal of Christian ethics. 
The permissions of the Quran in 
respect to polygamy, concubinage 
and divorce, the sanction of sla- 
very and holy war, the example of 
Mohammed himself, the adoption 

59 



ISLAM ; OR, 

of the principle that the end justi- 
fies the means — thereby consecra- 
ting every form of deception and 
lying, every sort of persecution 
and violence to the cause of relig- 
ion — these things effectually block 
the wheels of progress in ethical 
spheres, so that Moslem nations 
have hardly ever reached even the 
planes of moral purity occupied by 
the most degenerate Christian na- 
tions. The difference between the 
immoral Christian and the immor- 
al Moslem may be thus described : 
the Christian is immoral in spite 
of his religion ; the Moslem is im- 
moral because of his religion. It 
is, indeed, chiefly owing to this 
cause that Moslem empires are not 
enduring. The social and national 
life is undermined by a fatal dis- 
ease, which, like leprosy, festers 
and rots, though the life may be 
long continued. 

Another question has been asked ; 
namely, whether Islam has accom- 
plished good to the world. Aside 
from the a priori argument that the 
60 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

Lord, who has all power in heaven 
and earth, overrules all things for 
good to his church, we think the 
history of the world will show that, 
while Islam has wrought the ma- 
terial ruin of every people she has 
conquered, yet she has been made 
the instrument of accomplishing a 
good deal towards the spiritual 
and intellectual advancement of 
the world. She has ever been a 
scourge to idolaters in the church 
and out of it. She has borne wit- 
ness to a living, personal God in 
the midst of generations of hea- 
thens, moulding their language 
and thought in monotheistic forms, 
breaking up powerful systems of 
heathenism, and thus in a sense 
preparing the way of the Lord. 
Thus has she been used by God to 
accomplish his purposes. Every 
reader of church history knows 
how much the success of the Ref- 
ormation was due to the presence 
of the Turk at Constantinople. 
Islam has been a hammer in the 
hand of the Almighty wherewith 

61 



ISLAM ; OR, 

he has smitten his enemies. That 
work seems to have been accom- 
plished. The nations ruled by the 
Moslems have lost their prestige 
and seem to be doomed to speedy 
subjection to Christian powers. 
Their power to destroy and to per- 
secute has already been consider- 
ably curtailed. Almost one-half 
of the Moslems of the world are 
now under Christian rule. Among 
them the gospel is preached by 
the peaceful messengers of Christ 
without fear. Those who choose 
to abjure Islam are free to profess 
their faith in Christ without fear 
of bastinado or death. Not only so, 
but Islam is being honeycombed 
by influences which have greatly 
weakened its hold upon its own ad- 
herents. What with Babism in Per- 
sia, Wahabbiism in Arabia, Syed- 
Ahmadism in India, Mahdiism in 
Egypt and Central Africa, Islam 
is sorely rent by internal dissen- 
sions. Not least important is the 
influence of Protestant Christian- 
ity through its missions and edu- 
62 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURK. 

cational institutions. In Syria, 
Turkey, Egypt, and Persia many 
thoughtful Moslems are studying 
the Word of God. Some believe, 
though unable to make a public 
profession of their faith. In India 
many hundreds of the followers of 
Islam have publicly abjured that 
faith and been received into the 
church. Thousands of Moslem 
youths are being educated in 
Christian schools. Many of the 
teachers in these schools and many 
of the most eloquent and learned 
of the native ministers in the 
church were once the votaries of 
Islam. The leaven is already work- 
ing in this mass, and our hope is 
that it may speedily leaven the 
whole lump. 

The Moslems have a tradition 
that when Masih-ud-Dajjal, the 
Antichrist, shall sorely press the 
Moslems " all on a sudden pray- 
ers will begin, and Jesus, Son of 
Mary, will come down and act as 
Imaum, or Leader, to them. And 
when Dajjal, this enemy of God, 

63 



ISLAM. 

shall see Jesus, he will fear to be 
near, dissolving away like salt in 
water. And if Jesus lets him 
alone, verily he will melt and per- 
ish, and God will kill him by the 
hand of Jesus." Let us hope the 
day is not far distant when Jesus 
shall indeed become the Leader of 
these multitudes, and that the 
forces of Antichrist shall melt away 
like salt in water and perish before 
" the sword of his Spirit " and " the 
brightness of his coming." 



64 



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